Some OPI Comparisons

21 November, 2009

As you can tell, nail polish has become an obsession of mine. I’ve now accumulated a good 80 bottles of full-size polish and it’s only bound to grow-by the end of the year, if it’s not over 105 I will be sorely shocked.

Anywhoo, it’s time to do some comparisons of colours that may look similar next to each other on the Shelf o’ Polish, but really, they are quite different!

Let’s start with Sea? I Told You and Teal The Cows Come Home. On the shelf, SITY looks to be a darker turquoise, with a ton of shimmer, while TTCCH is more of a frost, and a bit lighter. Still very similar, though-at first, I thought “Had I bought a dupe?” But the swatches do not lie-and they really are different. I also swatched Sea Ya Later Sailor! above the two, and it’s not quite a gradient, or at least one that is easy to tell, as SYLS is VERY sheer. In fact, it’s the sort of colour that should only be used as a top-layer-er unless you have a LOT of patience. It is very pretty though, and it’s got more of a green to it. Then TTCCH is definitely blue-ish, but when swatched next to SITY it is more teal. It’s definitely got the frost, so one word: BRUSHSTROKES. Finally, SITY looks like magic. It’s a definite turquoise-blue with shimmer, like I said earlier, but it’s not the type of shimmer like in one of the more glittery polishes. If anything, I would say it’s a type of shimmer like that of Brisbane Bronze. Very pretty, and if you like blues track this down. I wanted to buy it on sale, but no ULTA had it on clearance (just If The Fuschia Fits and I’m His Coral-Friend, the latter of which I still haven’t bought) and it was a lucky shot that I found it at the local Beauty Works-conveniently at the shopping center I will be working at.

Next up, Play Til Midnight and Russian Navy. In the bottle, they look the same. Funny story-I interviewed for a job today, and on the bus to the shopping center, I noticed a huge chip in my Russian Navy-ed out nails. So I walk into Beauty Works, and they had Play Til Midnight on clearance, 50% off. Sold! It was similar enough to blend in, but my concern: are they too similar? In a nutshell, yes, they are very similar-but they are quite different. Russian Navy applies like a dream-two coats and it’s totally opague-and it’s not a boring cream: it has a purple microshimmer to it that really ups the amp, so to speak. Play Til Midnight, meanwhile, is not as opague. It would take me three coats to get the coverage I want. It is a smidge brighter, though, and the microshimmer is more rainbow-coloured and less purple. So far, it looks fairly dupeable, but I could be wrong once I see it on. It’s way thinner than Russian Navy, though, so if you didn’t get PTM you can find a better version in Russian Navy.